| Rivoli Bluff Cohousing is a forming group, working with Cohousing Advocates and Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services to develop a cohousing community as part of a two-phase project for the planned Rivoli Village on St. Paul's East Side. (* See below for joining the forming group.) The site has amazing views of downtown St. Paul, the State Capitol and Basilica of St. Mary, and the Mississippi River. It is located in the Railroad Island neighborhood, a short bike ride from Metro State University and easy access to the Bruce Vento Nature Preserve and trails.
Our group is multi-generational and senior-friendly, and the community will include fully accessible design in the commons house plus several fully accessible units. Within limits imposed by the hillside site, other units will also be "visitable". Our community will emphasize eco-friendly construction design and eco-friendly use of the site. Plans include green building techniques (LEED certification) and inclusion of additional features such as use of active as well as passive solar energy, re-use of gray water for lawns and landscaping, a community garden, recycling. Transportation options include easy access to bus line and bike paths.
The Rivoli Bluff site has the potential for 2 sister cohousing communities, each with 18-25 households. It is currently zoned as single-family housing; special zoning for clustered housing will be requested once the cohousing site design process is completed. City of St. Paul has an interest in the development and has provided subsidy funding for the cost of the land. The developer has also secured financing for subsidy of low- and moderate-income buyers. Planning for construction of the first phase of the community is now on hold, due to the community development agency's need to focus on the mortgage foreclosure crisis in the neighborhood to which they are assigned.
* We have recently changed our recruiting process - we will now be forming groups based on the geographic area of the Twin Cities or region that people are interested in, and timeframe desired for move-in to a community. If you are interested in Rivoli Bluff or another site on St Paul MN's East Side, please contact us.
For ongoing updates, request to join our Rivoli Cohousing Yahoo Group and mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rivolicohousing/join or the general Cohousing Advocates mailing list at CohousingAdvocates.com | Contact: Links: Monterey Cohousing: Subscribe for monthly updates on cohousing news and events in the Twin Cities |
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Population Adult Members: 5 (Site not yet built. # Adults and children are for Forming group. Group is actively recruiting.) Open to new children: Yes Gender Balance: 40% M 60% F (Gender balance intended to be approximately equal.) Age Focus: No Focus (Multigenerational, Senior-friendly) | Government Decision Making: By consensus | Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances (Affordable-housing developer (Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service) has access to programs for lower-income people.) Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt: No Answer (Must be eligible for mortgage to cover housing costs.) Labor Contribution: Expected (Meeting attendance and committee work during development stage) Join Fee: No (No at the moment. Membership fee will be established once enough people join to create a viable group, and the group begins meeting.) Regular Fees: Yes (Dues structure not yet in place) | Land and Buildings Urban (Close to downtown, neighborhood park incorporated into development) Area: 5.7 acres (2.3 hectares) (Room for a second cohousing community at same site, 1-2 years in the future.) Land Owned By: (Currently City of St Paul, with development rights granted.) Number of Residences: 20 (First Phase, to begin construction Fall 2007) Cohousing: Yes (If we can act quickly enough to reserve 6-8 cohousing buyers) | Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: (Not yet - there is room for community garden.) | |
